Multiple-dwelling structure



1969 w, J. s. JOHNSON 3,479,781

MULT I PLE DWELLI NG STRUCTURE Filed March 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WALLACE J. s. JOHNSON ATTORNEYS Nav. 25, W69 w. J. 5 JOHNSON 3,479,781

MULTIPLE-DWELLING STRUCTURE Filed March 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. .2

INVENTOR.

WALLACE J.S. JOHNSON m Mr 7/ ATTORNEYS Nov. 25, 5969 w. J. S JOHNSON 3,479,781

MULTIPLE-DWELLING STRUCTURE Filed March 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 I I g INVENTOR WALLACE J. $.JOHNSON ATTORN EYS NW. 25, 1989 w. J. 5. JOHNSON 3,479,781

MULTIPLE-DWELLING STRUCTURE Filed March 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IT\'\"ENTOR.

WALLACE J. S. JOHNSON ATTO RN EYS Nov. 25, 195% Filed March 21, 1968 w. J. 5. JOHNSON 3,479,781

MULTIPLE-DWELLI NG STRUCTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG 8 INVENTOR.

WALLACE \J. S. JOHNSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,479,781 MULTlPlLE-DWELLIN G STRUCTURE Wallace J. S. Johnson, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to Up- Right, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Mar. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 715,042 Int. Cl. E02d 27/00; E0411 /00; E02f 19/170 US. Cl. 52169 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A multiple-dwelling structure which provides a number of single-family dwellings disposed on a typical urban lot, each dwelling having a blank wall, a deck between the dwellings, a private yard and garage and complete physical psychological, visual and acoustical privacy from one another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to family dwellings, and more particularly to an arrangement of a number of such dwellings on a single residential lot.

In the prior art, it is well known to build an individual single-family home centrally located on a residential lot. This provides a large measure of physical privacy and maintains a low density of population in the residential area.

Almost all cities have zoning regulations for residential areas of individual, single-family homes. Typically, such a residential lot is 50 feet frontage on the street by 135 feet deep. Typical zoning regulations as to the permissible size, location, and shape of a home on such a lot are: feet minimum depth of front yard (setback), 4 feet minimum width of each side yard, 20 feet minimum depth of rear yard, and a maximum coverage of the lot by the house of percent.

In recent years, the value of land in the central areas of most cities has become so high that a great number of single families cannot afford to build or own a home on such a lot. The modern-day family is limited to a great extent to (a) a home in the suburbs, with an expensive and time-wasting commute, or (b) an apartment, with no yard and little privacyphysical, psychological, visual or acoustical.

Various attempts have been made to increase the privacy of each of a group of homes placed closely together. However, this invariably involves undesirable compromise, such as common walls, common ceilings and floors, common yards and garages, and the constant psychological, visual and acoustical awareness of ones neighbors.

It is an object of this invention to provide multiple dwelling on a typical residential lot, so arranged and constructed that each dwelling provides complete physical, psychological, visual and acoustical privacy from each other.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such multiple dwellings which, while fulfilling the above object, provides a private garage for each dwelling, and convenient driveway access to said garage.

' It is a still further object of this invention to arrange such dwellings so that each dwelling has a private yard that is physically, visually and acoustically separate from each of the other dwellings.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide four dwellings on a lot, which, while fulfilling the above objects, are so arranged that the interior dwellings each have a private second floor deck that is physically, visually and acoustically separate from the other dwellings on the lot.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide multiple dwellings on a lot each of which, while fulfilling the above objects, has two separate ground-floor pedestrian entrances.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide such multiple dwellings which, while fulfilling the above objects, is no more than two floors in height.

It is yet a further object to provide multiple dwellings on a lot which, while fulfilling the above objects, complies with typical city zoning regulations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly stated, the multiple-dwelling structure comprises a first family dwelling including a blank wall, and a second family dwelling spaced from the first family dwelling and having exposed thereto the blank wall of the first family dwelling, whereby a private area is accorded the second family dwelling between the first and second family dwellings. Further provided is a walkway extending past the second family dwelling to adjacent the first family dwelling. Further provided is a driveway extending past the second family dwelling to adjacent the first family dwelling, the second family dwelling being disposed between the walkway and driveway.

This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the multiple-dwelling structure;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the multipledwelling structure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic floor plan of the first floor of an embodiment of the structure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic floor plan of the second floor of the structure of FIG. 3 in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic floor plan of the first floor of another embodiment of the structure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic floor plan of the second floor of the structure of FIG. 5 in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic floor plan of the first floor of yet another embodiment of the structure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic floor plan of the second floor of the structure of FIG. 7 in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A multiple-dwelling structure 10 is shown generally in FIGS. 1 and 2. The particular structure 10 shown is made up of first, second, third and fourth family dwellings, 12, 14, 16, and 18, which are disposed substantially in a row on a lot 20 with dwelling 18 being closest to street 24. While the preferred embodiments of this invention each include four separate family dwellings, it will be understood that the concept could be applied with similar advantage to a structure with two or three or more than four family dwellings.

A typical plan for the ground and second floors is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. On the ground level, a driveway 22 leads from street 24 and extends past the fourth, third and second dwellings, 18, 16, 14 to adjacent the first dwelling 12. The dwellings 12, 14, 16, 18 are provided with garages 26, 28, 30, 32 respectively which are disposed along the driveway 22. The driveway 22 is thus positioned to provide access to the garages 26, 28, 30, and the garage 32 can be reached directly from street 24.

A walkway 34 runs from street 24 past dwellings 18,

- 16, 14 and to adjacent dwelling 12, the dwellings 18, 16,

3 14 being between the walkway 34 and driveway 22. The walkway 34 and driveway 22 provide two separate groundfioor pedestrian entrances to each of the dwellings 12, 14, 16, 18.

The dwellings 12, 14, 16, 18 are provided with second floors as shown in FIG. 4. The first and second floors of the dwellings 12, 14, 16, 18 are connected by stairs 36, 38, 40, 42 respectively.

It is to be noted that dwellings 12 and 14 are spaced apart, and that dwelling 12 has a blank wall 44 which is exposed to the dwelling 14. Thus a private yard 46 is accorded the dwelling 14 between the dwelling 12 and dwelling 14. The yard 46 is screened from walkway 34 by a fence 47 and from driveway 22 by garage 28. The dwelling 12 has its own yard 48 opposite the yard 46, which is made private by surrounding fence 49. Dwelling 16 shares a common blank wall 50 with dwelling 14. Dwelling 18 is spaced from dwelling 16, and has a bank wall 52 which is exposed to dwelling 16. Thus a private yard 54 is accorded the dwelling 16 between the dwellings 16 and 18. The yard 54 is screened from walkway 34 by a fence 51 and from driveway 22 by garage 30. The dwelling 18 has its own yard 56 opposite yard 54, which is made private by a surrounding fence 57.

A deck 58 extends from the blank wall 44 of dwelling 12 at the second story level thereof to the dwelling 14 at the second story level thereof to the dwelling 14 at the second story level thereof. The deck 58 is thus private to dwelling 14. A deck 60 extends from the blank wall 52 of the dwelling 18 at the second story level thereof to the dwelling 16 at the second story level thereof. The deck 60 is thus private to dwelling 16.

Stairway 36 of dwelling 12 is disposed adjacent the blank wall 44 thereof. Similarly, stairway 42 of dwelling 18 is disposed adjacent the blank wal 52 thereof. Stairways 38, 40 of dwellings 14, 16 are disposed adjacent the blank, common wall 50. This placing of the stairways next to blank walls insures that walls with openings therein are not blocked, so that maximum design efficiency is achieved.

FIGS. 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 provide different floor plans for the second and third stories, but the features pointed out previously are still present. That is, driveways 22A, 22B and walkways 34A, 34B are similarly positioned relative to dwellings, 12A, 14A, 16A, 18A (FIGS. 5 and 6) or dwellings 12B, 14B, 16B, 18B (FIGS. 7 and 8). Private yards 46A, 48A, 54A, 56A are provided (FIGS. 5 and 6), similar to the previous design, as are private yards 46B, 48B, 54B, 56B (FIGS. 7 and 8). The stairs 36A, 38A 40A, 42A are positioned against blank walls (FIGS. 5 and 6), as are the stairs 36B, 38B, 40B, 42B (FIGS. 7 and 8). Private decks 58A, 60A (FIGS. 5 and 6) and private decks 58B, 60B (FIGS. 7 and 8) are provided, similar to decks 58, 60. Each dwelling is again provided with its own garage.

It will be seen that herein is provided a multiple-dwelling structure which provides for its occupants a maximum of privacy and livability. Each dwelling has a private yard, and a private garage with convenient access thereto. A walkway is also provided, and it and the garages may be used as entrances. Furthermore, each interior dwelling is provided with a private deck, and no dwelling is more than two stories high.

It is to be noted that, because of the particular structure described, each dwelling is exposed to air and light on three sides, and yet no dwelling looks into another, or into the yard of another from either the first or second floor. This is achieved without the use of high fences.

It has been found that on a typical lot of 50 feet by 135 feet, a relatively great area can be provided each dwelling. For example, in the first embodiment described (FIGS. 3 and 4), dwellings 12 and 18 have 1105 square feet of floor area each, and dwellings 14 and 16 have 1098 square feet of area each. The yard 48 of dwelling 12 is 1000 square feet in area, and the yard 56 of dwelling 18 is 434 square feet in area. The deck 58 and yard 46 of dwelling 14 total 454 square feet and the deck 60 and yard 54 of dwelling 16 total 454 square feet also. Each dwelling is provided with a garage of 166 square feet area.

The structure provides for a maximum of over-all privacy, and does so while complying with typical city zoning regulations. Obviously, the invention can be carried out in many different ways, of which the embodiments shown and described are merely illustrative. Therefore, I do not desire to be limited by the embodiments shown and described, but only by the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A multiple-dwelling structure comprising (a) a first family dwelling including a blank wall;

(b) a second family dwelling spaced from the first family dwelling and having exposed thereto the blank wall of the first family dwelling, whereby a private area is accorded the second family dwelling between the first and second family dwellings;

(c) a walkway extending past the second family dwelling to adjacent the first family dwelling; and

(d) a driveway extending past the second family dwelling to adjacent the first family dwelling, the second family dwelling being disposed between the walkway and driveway;

(e) wherein each dwelling has first and second stories, and wherein is provided a deck extending from the blank wall of the first family dwelling at the secondfloor level thereof to the second family dwelling at the second-floor level thereof, whereby a private deck is accorded the second family dwelling between the first and second family dwellings.

2. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 1 wherein is included a third family dwelling disposed adjacent the second family dwelling on the side thereof opposite the first family dwelling, the second and third family dwellings sharing a common blank wall, the third family dwelling having first and second stories.

3. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 2 wherein are included a first stairway running from the first to the second story of the first family dwelling and positioned along the blank wall thereof, a second stairway running from the first to the second story of the second family dwelling and positioned along the common blank wall of the second and third family dwellings, and a third stairway running from the first to the second story of the third family dwelling and positioned along the common blank wall of the second and third family dwellings.

4. A multiple-dwelling structure comprising:

(a) a first family dwelling including a blank wall;

(b) a second family dwelling spaced from the first family dwelling and having exposed thereto the blank wall of the first family dwelling, whereby a private area is accorded the second family dwelling between the first and second family dwellings;

(c) a third family dwelling disposed adjacent the second family dwelling on the side thereof opposite the first family dwelling, the second and third family dwellings sharing a common blank wall;

(d) a fourth family dwelling spaced from the third family dwelling and disposed on the side of the third family dwelling opposite the second family dwelling, the fourth family dwelling including a blank wall exposed to the third family dwelling, whereby a private area is accorded the third family dwelling between the third and fourth family dwellings.

5. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 4 wherein each dwelling has first and second stories.

- 6. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 5 wherein is provided:

(a) a first deck extending from the blank wall of the first family dwelling at the second-floor level thereof to the second family dwelling at the second-floor level thereof, whereby a private deck is accorded the second family dwelling between the first and second family dwellings, and

(b) a second deck extending from the blank wall of the fourth family dwelling at the second-floor level thereof to the third family dwelling at the secondfloor level thereof, whereby a private deck is accorded the third family dwelling between the third and fourth family dwellings.

7. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 6 wherein are included a first stairway running from the first to the second story of the first family dwelling and positioned along the blank wall thereof, a second stairway running from the first to the second story of the second family dwelling and positioned along the common blank wall of the second and third family dwellings, a third stairway running from the first to the second story of the third family dwelling and positioned along the common blank wall of the second and third family dwellings, and a fourth stairway running from the first to the second story of the fourth family dwelling and positioned along the blank wall thereof.

8. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 7 wherein is included a walkway extending past the fourth, third, and second family dwellings to adjacent the first family dwelling.

9. A multiple-dwelling structure according to claim 8 wherein is included a driveway extending past the fourth, third, and second family dwellings to adjacent the first family dwelling, the second, third and fourth family dwellings each being disposed between the Walkway and driveway.

References Cited JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-185, 236 

